More bombs dropped in Gaza than in World War II

Photo: Prensa Latina

Havana, Nov. 9 (RHC) The Palestinian Authority for Environmental Quality denounced that Israel has dropped more than 85,000 tons of bombs on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, an amount greater than those dropped during the Second World War.

The occupation army's continuous bombardment has caused the destruction of large areas of agricultural land and the contamination of the soil with toxic chemicals that will hamper agriculture for decades, said a statement issued on the occasion of the World Day for Preventing the Use of the Environment in War and Military Conflict.

Israel used all kinds of weapons and missiles in its aggression, especially white phosphorus, which is banned by international law according to the United Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons, causing serious environmental damage that threatens human life and living organisms, the authority said in its statement.

On the other hand, it referred to the damage to the infrastructure of water sources caused by the leakage of contaminated water into subway basins, the harbinger of a health and environmental disaster that threatens hundreds of thousands of residents for generations to come.

Regarding the West Bank, the agency denounced that Israeli settlements and military training of the occupation army pose a great danger to the Palestinian environment, as large areas of land are exposed to confiscation, demolition, uprooting of trees and overgrazing.

Waste resulting from military maneuvers causes damage to water sources and air pollution, while at the same time it is estimated that the colonies pump some 40 million cubic meters of raw sewage into Palestinian territory annually.

He urged the United Nations and the international community to take urgent measures to stop the ongoing aggression and prevent the exploitation of the environment for military purposes, and to implement international laws.

The latter include the Geneva Protocol and the Convention Prohibiting the Use of Technical Environmental Modifications for Military Purposes to Protect the Environment and Prevent its Degradation as a Result of Armed Conflict.

He also called for the documentation of environmental violations in the Palestinian territories, as the environmental damage caused poses a serious threat to the health of the population and a threat to the future of the entire region. Protecting the environment is not a marginal issue, but a fundamental right linked to the right to a clean, safe and pollution-free environment, and any negligence or neglect of this right exposes humanity to catastrophic consequences that threaten environmental sustainability, the institution concluded in its communiqué. (Source: Prensa Latina)